The Los Angeles Lakers decided to get younger this offseason, but they did bring in one veteran, center Kevon Looney. The Lakers signed Looney to a one-year, $3.9 million veteran’s minimum contract, and he explained why he chose to come to Los Angeles during an appearance on the Mason & Ireland show.
“This summer has been great,” Looney said. “Being a free agent this year, I didn’t know what was going to happen. There were a lot of moving parts to this offseason with a lot of teams, and once Lakers made a few moves and they had a need for a center, this was my top destination. I was able to make it happen. I’m super excited.”
Looney had hit the market after the New Orleans Pelicans declined their $8 million team option for him for the 2026-27 season. It wasn’t a surprise, as the 30-year-old did not have a great 2025-26 campaign.
Looney put up 2.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game for the Pelicans. He played just 21 games as he dealt with some injuries and then fell out of the rotation.
Despite having that down year, there was interest around the league in Looney’s services. It was reported that one of the reasons why he chose the Lakers was the similarities between them and the Golden State Warriors, with whom he spent the first 10 seasons of his career.
Looney also attended UCLA and spends time in Los Angeles in the offseason. His wife’s family is based there, too, so the move made a lot of sense.
Looney will be backing up another new arrival, Walker Kessler, and he spoke about his role for next season with the Lakers.
“Filling that backup center role, being a veteran for this team and bringing championship experience to the team, and bring that toughness that I always try to bring every time I play,” Looney said. “So, that’s one of my roles going to be, and I’m looking forward to getting out there and showing the people what I can do.”
Looney is the only player on that Lakers roster who has won an NBA championship. He actually won three with the Warriors in 2017, 2018, and 2022. Looney is also the Lakers’ oldest player. He will have a big role to play off the court.
Joining the Lakers also means Looney gets to play with a transcendent guard for the second time in his career. It was Stephen Curry on the Warriors and now Luka Doncic. Looney has had many battles with Doncic over the years and is glad to be on his team now.
“Playing against him sucks,” Looney said. “Especially being a big man, you in a lot of pick-and-rolls, you get iso’d on. He picks on people, and you got to guard him one-on-one, and he’s probably the toughest guy to guard one-on-one in the league. I got to compete against him on the Lakers and in the playoffs when he was in Dallas.
“So, I’m excited to be on this team and be able to learn from him and be able to play pick-and-roll from him,” Looney continued. “He’s probably the best pick-and-roll player in the league, so being able to learn how he wants for me to set screens and different things like that, I’m excited about it. He’s one of the best guys in the league, and so make my life a lot easier playing with him, so I’m super excited.”
Looney also believes playing with Curry has prepared him to thrive with Doncic. It will be interesting to see how this partnership works.
Looney also confirmed here that he will be attending the minicamp Doncic will host in Slovenia in August. He is excitedly looking forward to it.
Now, despite having Looney and Sandro Mamukelashvili as backup options behind Kessler, the Lakers are still reportedly monitoring the market for bigs. So, we decided to look at five centers they should target. If they get any of them, though, we won’t be seeing Looney on the court a whole lot next season.
